Christmas ends with Three Kings Feast in Goa

Panaji, Jan 6: The Christmas festivities officially culminated in Goa on Friday with the celebration of the Three Kings Feast in three villages of the coastal state.
In keeping with the 500-year-old tradition, teenagers from Cansaulim, Reis Magos and Chandor villages rode white horses to mark the occasion.
In South Goa’s Cansaulim village, teens dressed up as kings arrived on white horses from the other two villages.
“The three kings gather at a common point at the foot of a hill, which is a place they have been meeting for centuries,” said Quelim resident Sheriff Jacques, who is an inspector with the Goa police.
“The festival marks the end of the Christmas season, which begins on December 24,” he said.
He added that this festival has always been a crowd-puller considering its spiritual value and visual appeal.
While the journey from these villages to the foot of the hill is not difficult for the kings and their horses, the real challenge is to climb a 45 degree slope to reach the hill.
“It takes almost 20 minutes for the procession to reach the chapel of Our Lady of the Mount,” another villager Baptista Rodrigues said.
“A mass is held at the chapel before the procession returns to the village,” he added. (PTI)